John valentine



J. VALENTINE. Car Truck.

Patented Apr. 6, 1852.

AM.PNOT0LITHO. 20. NN (QSBURNE'S PROCESS.)

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JOHN VALENTINE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAIL AND CAR-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,867, dated April 6, 1852.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN VALENTINE, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction of Wooden Railroads and in Cars to Run Upon the Same; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being made to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the figures.

My invention consists in a new and improved method. of constructing .wooden rail roads, and carriages adapted to run upon the same.

The advantages a successful wooden rail way would have over iron are cheapness in the first cost and in repairs; simplicity and ease with which it may be constructed; the ability to employ ordinary mechanics or even farmers residing along the line of such works; also the facility of obtaining the chief materials to be used,'as the wood can be taken from the forests on the way side. The saw mills and shops, (the tools required being few), may also be transported with the work. These advantages are so striking that wood has frequently been suggested for the permanent rails of rail roads especially in the United States, and among these I claim to have been the first to test its practicability. Notwithstandincr the above there are difficulties in the way which have hitherto prevented the introduction of wood for this purpose. The first idea was to saw strips of timber lengthwise of the log and nail these to sleepers. This system would prove a failure from the expansions and contractions of the wood upon the pegs or spikes and they would soon become loose. Then the fibers lying parallel would soon laminate and split off in flakes by the rolling of the wheels, the concussions bringing the flanges upon the side and corner would also hasten the destruction of the rail. To prevent this it was proposed to arm the side, subject to the action of the flange, with a strip of iron. This idea of course set the whole thing aside, for beside its doubtful success the cost of such a miXed structure would be as great as that of making the rails wholly of iron. A successful wooden rail road must embrace all the advantages first enumerated and be what it claims to be, a structure composed entirely of wood. By my improvements, this is accomplished by two means; first an entirely novel method of preparing and laying the rails, and secondly by the construction of a carriage peculiarly adapted to run upon the same; and these embrace a necessary combination in the invention now to be described. And first as to the method of constructing the railroad: The ground having been properly graded, I lay down two timber sleepers (a, a) parallel to each other, and as far apart as necessary for the gage determined upon for the road; these are held in place by timber cross ties fastened by the usual methods of pins, spikes &c. Upon these sleepers the wooden rail is to be aflixed by a'chair so constructed as to perform two oflices, viz. one to hold the main rail in place, and a part to act as a rail under certain circumstances, to be hereafter described. This chair is made from strips of timber sawed into suitable lengths, two strips being necessary to hold the rail, and is seen at the letters (6) and (0). The strips are both of the same shape in the particulars noted viz. on their inner faces which press against the wooden rail, these must be beveled to suit the angle of the side of the rail as shown, also the bottom must be flat to lie fair upon the sleepers. The dimensions and shape of the two other faces, the top and outside face of the strips (0) may be as most convenient, but should have breadth enough to afford a good base to hold upon the sleeper. The inner strips (7)) composing the other halfof the chair must however always have three of their faces of a fixed shape and angle, for this part is that which is to be prepared for the two fold office of a rail if need be, and also form part of the chair; therefore the top surface must always be flat and parallel to the bottom surface. The inner side need not be vertical, but may be beveled off so as to give a greater base, which perhaps would be an advantage. The inner strip (6) should be first laid down and permanently fastened to the sleeper (a) but the outside strip should be so attached as to be capable of being moved away in sections so as to introduce new pieces forming the main rail, when any are worn or prove defective.

As to the formation of the main rail: these I make in the form of prisms. The log selected is laid off so that blocks can be out which shall have the fibers at an angle to the rail equal to twice the depth.

top and bottom surfaces, while a cross section would exhibit the sides pyramidal or beveled so that the base would be greater than the top as clearly seen in the drawings at the letters (03), which besides being a form for strength, gives also solidity. And now as to the angular direction of the fibers. It was before remarked that if the rails were cut with the grain parallel to their lengths they would soon become lamellated, or fiaky and although the suggestions to cut the wood in cubes so that the fibers would be vertical would remedy this defect and greatly prolong the wear both as to evenness and time, yet would the wood in that form be deficient in its ability to resist com pression, especially from a cylindrical body, where the whole weight rested on a mere point, or very small base. Each therefore has its advantages and disadvantages and the form I have given is intended as much as possible to avoid the latter and secure the former. To do this most effectually I prefer an angle of forty five degrees, because at that angle the pressure of the wheels, although acting upon a mere point, is practically distributed over a length of Thus it will be seen that the superior wear and adhesion due to the end wood or all that could be got from having the fibers vertical, together with the ability to resist compression due to the fibers were they laid longitudinally, is obtainedv by this angular arrangement of them in the prisms or blocks cut as described. The shape of the blocks at the ends must be noticed, these are sawed or split off parallel to the grain or at the same general angle, so that in forming them into the rail the top edge of one end overlaps the bottom edge of the next preceding it, as clearly seen in the drawings. These blocks are put in place by arranging them against the permanent side of the chair (2)) and in a continuous row, one side overlapping the other as described. As fast as a suflicient number are put down the outside strip (0) is screwed or bolted to the sleeper as shown in the drawings, thus permanently holding the rail down, without boring the blocks for pins, spikes &c. as proposed in other methods.

I shall now describe the truck or carriage to be used in connection with the rail. The one peculiarity is that the burthen wheels have no flanges but roll simply upon the top face being kept on by a separate arrangement consisting of guide wheels placed before and after each pair of wheels or at each end of the carriage. These guide wheels have also the additional property of becoming burthen wheels in case of the breaking of an axle or any other accident by which a burthen wheel becomes disabled. When this occurs the strip (Z2) becomes for the time a rail.

In Figure I a side view of this carriage is seen; and at Fig. II an end view. (6) is the frame of the truck. (f) are the burthen wheels, the rims of which are faced off to roll level upon the rail, there being no flanges upon them as seen in the end view. (9) is a strong frame fixed to the front and rear of the truck to hold the guide wheels; there are two guide wheels in each frame one on each side. Theiraxes are set so as to project them at an angle greater or less according to circumstances, about sixty degrees is recommended, however, the nearer they can be brought to the vertical position the better, so as not to produce any grinding action upon the sides of the rail. The edges of these wheels are shaped so as to fit the angle formed by the top of (b) and the inner side of the rail (d) as shown.

The operation is evident; the burthen wheels rolling upon the surface and acting only upon it can never produce any abrasion of the sides, and the same may be said of the guide wheels, as these simply roll on the surface, and are only in action upon curves or where sinuosities in the road bring them to touching positions. So that a car might travel over the road many thousand times without these wheels touching twice in the same place. The next feature is as to the breaking of an. axle of the main burthen wheels. In such a case the car would be prevented from running off of the track until the train could be stopped, when the other wheel on the broken axle could be removed and the car proceed with the two guide wheels acting as burthen wheels, with the chair (1)) for rails.

WVhat I claim therefore as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is The guide wheels in combination with the rail constructed as described, and the carriage; said wheels having their circumferences beveled so as to expose two surfaces to roll upon; one to project against the side of the rail and the other to come in action upon the surface of the inner strip forming part of the chair when the guide wheels become burthen wheels as described; the whole being constructed and operating substantially in the manner as herein set forth.

JOHN VALENTINE. Witnesses:

J. H. MAYNARD,

JOHN W. KILsBY, Jr. 

